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Misty has a cough

Misty started coughing yesterday. I first noticed it after we came in from our walk around four, and it's continued into today. She cough's a couple of times, and then gags, like when she's going to be sick. She's does it after drinking,and it seems to be worse if she is excited too.

We took her to the vet this morning but he's not sure what it is. He says something is irritating it, and it could be Kennel Cough or something she's eaten. He gave her an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory injection, and sent her home with a weeks worth of Noroclav, and says to see how she is. If she gets worse or it isn't better in a fortnight (said this was standard if it was Kennel Cough) then to take her back in. He said there wasn't any point in trying to keep her away from Murphy at this point, is this right? If he suspects Kennel Cough what about contact with other dogs while walking etc?

She is a walking dust bin and will eat anything given the chance, but obviously we trying and stop her everytime we see any potential "snacks". I certainly didn't see her at anything yesterday, so I'm a little puzzled by what's causing this. She is her usual cheeky self, and is eating and drinking normally, and although she's coughing while out walking, she's energetic still.

Hi, from what I understand kennel cough comes from being exposed the virus in an enclosed space? Here is a link with a little info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kennel_cough
I hope Misty feels better soon, tiz tough when our furbabies get sick.

Desrae, guardian of two tri-coloured cavaliers, Belle 3 years old and Bobby 1 year/8 months.

There can be all sorts of reasons for a dog to cough. Typical cavalier coughs include the usual suspects, such as having swallowed something caught in her throat, like dust, water after drinking, or a piece of food, or it could be kennel cough. Others could be the "reverse sneeze" (which sounds more like gagging or honking rather than a cough, due to an elongated soft palate -- http://www.cavalierhealth.org/brachy...ed_Soft_Palate), a "cardiac cough" (related to MVD, a dry, unproductive, hacking cough), a medication-related cough (like a side effect of taking an ACE-inhibitor).

I don't like the vet's knee-jerk reaction of prescribing an antibiotic and/or "an anti-inflammatory injection", probably a steroid like prednisone. Often, when general practice vets are stumped about a diagnosis, they default to antibiotics and steroids, as if these poisons will do no harm, and if the cough goes away, they must have worked. That's one of the reasons I prefer holistic vets.

It definitely isn't reverse sneezing, Murphy does this on occasion, so I know what that sounds like. And although she has a regular irregular heartbeat, she doesn't have MVD.

I'm not sure it is Kennel Cough at all, he just seemed to want to cover all possibilities. I may phone in and speak to my usual vet on Monday morning, as he was off today, hence me seeing his colleague, who I'm not sure is a small animal specialist. Our practice has a mix of small and large animal specialist being quite rural and I'm sure the one we saw today is normally out doing rounds, but beggars can't be choosers as they we only open to 12:30 today.